Valve



r Feb. 7, 1939.

R. B. GRANTHAM ET AL VALVE Filed Aug. 6, 1937 Patented F eb. 7, 1939VALVE Reeves B. Grantham and George Lee Gray,

Kilgore, Tex.

Application August 6,

3 Claims.

This invention relates to valves and more particularly to a valveadapted for use upon the tube or casing of a well whereby flow of oil,gas or other fluid from the well may be shut off.

One object of the invention is to provide a Valve of such constructionthat when it isv connected with the upper end of the well tube orcasing, it will extend horizontally and may have an actuating stem ofsuch length that the valve may be opened or closed at quite a distancefrom the well and thus permit the valve to be closed in case of rewithout endangering the life of the person operating the valve.

Another object of the invention is to provide the Valve with companiongates so mounted that they may have movement toward and away from eachother and when in contact shifted as a unit and thus one of the gatesmoved into position to completely shut off flow of uid from the well.

Another object of the invention is to so form the gates that when theyare moved to a closed position, they may engage about a pump rod ordrill steml extending longitudinally through the valve tube or casingand thus permit flow of `oil or gas tobe cut off even with a pump rod ordrill stem extending into the well.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the valve that itwill be very strong and durable and capable of being subjected to roughusage without damage to its mechanism.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure1 is a sectional view taken longitudinally through the improved valveupon a horizontal plane.

Figure 2 is a view showing the valve partially in side elevation andpartially in vertical section.

v This improved valve has a casing I formed of strong metal and at itsends carrying flanges 2 and 3 to which the iianges 4 and 5 of bonnets 6and l are secured by bolts 8. Necks 9 extend from the intermediateportion of the body in opposed relation to each other in order that theflange' I of one neck may be bolted or otherwise secured to the upperend of a well tube or casing and the valve thus mounted at the upper endof the well and attention is called to the fact that about the necks thecasing is inwardly thickened, as shown at I I, to coni-lne a passage I 2extending vertically through the valve casing. The thickened portionsterminate in spaced relation to each other intermediate the depth of thepassage I2 and provide guide ways or seats i3 to slidably receive gatesI4 and I5. These gates areformed of strong metal and are rectangular incrossV section,. andY by re- 1937, Serial No. 157,801

ferring to Figure l it will be seen that the gates are of such widththat when they have their inner ends in engagement with each other theymay extend across the passage I2 in blocking relation thereto. Thesegates are to have sliding movement into and out of position across thepassage I2 and, therefore, each gate has opposed side portions formedwith grooves I6 to slidably receive ribs I 'I formed'longitudinally ofthe valve casing at opposite sides thereof. Therefore, the two gateswill be slidably mounted for movement longitudinally in the YValvecasing and sliding movement of the gates will be guided. The inner endfaces of the two gates are grooved, as shown at I8, and in these groovesare seated packing I9 and as the grooved portions of the inner end facesof the gates are formed with arcuate recesses, the two gates when movedinto abutting engagement with each other, as shown in the drawing, may tabout a pump rod or drill stem extending axially through a well andthrough the passage I2 and form a tight closure about the rod or stem sothat flow of oil, gas or other fluid fromY the well may be shut off.This construction also permits: the Valve to serve as a reducing valvewhich may be adjusted to move the gates tok the position shown in thedrawing and thus shut off the major portion of the iow of fluid fromthev well while at the same time permitting continuance of a reducedflow.

The stems and 2| of the gates extend longitudinally of the valve casing,and referring to Figure 1 it will be seen that the stem 20 has athreaded inner end portion 22 engaged in a threaded socket 23 extendinglongitudinally4 of the gate I4 in axial relation thereto. This stemextends through a packing gland 23 mounted at the outer end of the hood6 and carries a collar 24 rotatably received in a recess or seat 25formed in the hood about its stern receiving passage. The packing glandholdsrthe collar in the seat and, therefore, longitudinal movement ofthe stem Will be prevented while rotation of the stem will not beinterfered with. When the stem is rotated the threaded connectionbetween the stem and the gate I4 will cause the'gate to be shiftedlongitudinallyv in the valve casing according to the direction in whichthe Astern is turned. The stem may be of any length desired according tothe distance the operator should be standing from the well in order toprevent injury to the operator closing the valve during an emergency andmay have its outer end provided with a turning handle 26 or equivalentmeans for imparting r0- tatio-n to the valve stem. VA cross head 21extends transversely of the valve stem 20 and 1s formed with a threadedopening 28 through which passes the threaded portion 29 of the valvestem. Therefore, when the stem is turned, the cross head will be movedlongitudinally of the stem as well as the gate III but since threads ofthe threaded portion 29 are pitched to an opposite direction to threadsof the threaded inner end portion 22, the cross head and gate. will movein opposite directions when the stem is turned.

The stem 2l of the gate I5 slides through the packing gland 3u at theouter end of the hood 'I and has a reduced inner end portion 3|extending into a cylindrical chamber 32 formed axially of the gate I5. Ahead 33 at the inner end of the valve stem 2| prevents the gate frombecoming disconnected from the valve stem and a spring 34 coiled aboutthe reduced end portion 3l of the valve stem with its ends bearingagainst the gate and the shoulder 35 of the stem yieldably maintains thegate in the position upon the stem shown in Figure 1 but permits thegate to be shifted along the reduced end portion of the valve stem. Across head 36 is mounted upon the outer end portion of the valve stem 2lwhere it is irmly secured by nuts 3l. This cross head corresponds inlength to the cross head 2 and in order to connect the two cross heads,there have been provided rods 38 slidably mounted through perforatedears or brackets 39 secured at opposite sides of the bonnets 6 and l bycertain of the bolts 8. These rods extend longitudinally oi the valvecasing and have threaded end portions which pass through openings formednear ends of the yokes and carry nuts 43 which, when tightened, irmlysecure the yokes to the rods.

When this valve is in use, one of the flanges III is secured to acompanion ilange at the upper end of the well tube or casing to alinethe passage I2 with the same, or the valve may be connected with thewell tube or casing in any other desired manner, such as by a threadedconnection. The stem 2li is rotated in a direction to move the gate I4outwardly and shift the cross head 2li along the stem toward the valvecasing and draw the stern 2l outward, together with the gate i5. It willthus be seen that the two gates will be shifted away from each other toa position in which they are spaced from each other at opposite sides ofthe passage l2. When it is desired to close the valve, the stem 20 isturned in an opposite direction and the cross head 27 will be movedtoward the outer end of the stem and the gate I5 shifted inwardly. Asthe gate MI also moves inwardly, the inner ends of the gates will moveinto engagement with each other across the passage I2. If a pump rod ordrill stem is extending longitudinally through the well and passage I2,the gates will close about the pump rod or drill stem with the packingsI9 in close contacting engagement therewith and flow of iiuid from thewell will be entirely shut off. It there should be no pump rod orY drillstem extending through the passage I2, the gates and the packings willdene a circular opening between abutting ends oi the gates and arestricted iow of fluid will be permitted. Under such conditions, iow offluid from the well will not be entirely shut oli and it is thennecessary to continue rotation of the stem 2@ in the closing directionand the gate I d will continue its movement across the passage I2. Asthe gate I5 is slidably mounted upon the reduced end portion 3l of thestem 2l, this gate can be moved along its stem in opposition to actionof the spring 311 and eventually it will be backed away from the passageI2 by the advancinggate I4 and the gate I4 moved into a position inwhich it extends entirely across the passage I2 and completely blocksthe same. Therefore, flow of fiuid from the well can be entirely shutoff. Upon reversing the rotation of the stem 2li in order to move thegate I4 toward an open position, the spring 313 will cause the gate I5to follow the gate I4 until the gates reach the position shown in Figure1 with the head 33 at the outer end of the chamber 32 and from continuedrotation of the valve stem 23, the two gates will be moved to an openposition at the opposite sides of the passage I2. It will thus be seenthat ilow of iluid from the well through the passage I2 can be veryeffectively controlled either with a pump rod or drill stern` extendingthrough the passage I2 or with such an element lacking.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

I. In a valve, a casing having a passage formed therethrough and atopposite sides of the passage being formed with guideways extendinglongitudinally of the casing, hoods at opposite ends of the casing,gates slidable along the guideways for movement longitudinally of thecasing into and out of position to extend across the passage, a stemextending into' the casing through one hood and rotatably mounted andheld against longitudinal movement, the inner end portion of said stembeing threaded and engaged in a threaded socket formed in one gate, asecond stem slidably mounted through the hood at the other end of thecasing and extending longitudinally of the casing with its inner endslidably received in a chamber formed longitudinally in the second gate,a spring yieldably resisting sliding movement of the second gate uponthe second stem, and means actuated by rotation of the first stem forsliding the second stem longitudinally and shifting the second gatelongitudinally in the casing in a direction opposite to the direction inwhich the rst gate moves, the second gate being slidable along its stemwith the rst gate when confronting inner ends of the gates are inengagement with each other.

2. In a valve, a casing, hoods at opposite ends of said casing, opposednecks projecting from the casing intermediate the length thereof, thecasing being inwardly thickened about the necks with the thickenedportions terminating in spaced relation to each other and together withthe necks dening a passage extending transversely through the casing andguideways at opposite sides of the passage intermediate the lengththereof, gates slidable through the guideways into and out of positionto extend across the passage, stems for said gates extendinglongitudinally of the casing through said hoods, one stem beingrotatably mounted and having threaded engagement with its companion gateand the other stem being slidably mounted andthe companion gate beingshiftable longitudinally upon the stem and yieldably held against saidshifting movement along the stem, and means carried by the stemsexternally of the casing and adapted to be actuated by rotation of thefirst stem for imparting sliding movement to the second stem andshifting the gate carried by the second stem in a direction opposite tothe direction in which the gate of the rst stem moves.

3. In a valve, a casing having a transverse passage intermediate itslength and guideways at oppositev sides of the passage extendinglongitudinally of the casing, hoods at opposite ends of the casing,gates slidable along the guideways for movement into and out of positionacross said passage, a stem rotatably carried by one hood and extendinglongitudinally thereof into said casing and having a threaded inner endportion engaged in a threaded socket formed longitudinally of one gate,a second stem slidable longitudinally through the hood at the other endof the casing and extending into the casing and terminatingr in a headreceived in a chamber formed longitudinally in the second gate wherebythe second gate may be shifted longitudinally upon its stem, a springyieldably resisting shifting of the second gate upon its stem in onedirection, a cross head carried by the outer end portion of the secondstem, a second cross head having a threaded opening formed therein, therst stern having its outer end portion threaded in an opposite directionto the threading of its inner end portion and engaged through thethreaded opening of the second cross head to shift the second cross headin a direction opposite to movement of the first gate when the rst stemis rotated, rods extending longitudinally of the casing with their endsanchored to ends of the cross heads, and guides for said rods projectingfrom the casing.

GEORGE LEE GRAY. REEVES B. GRANTHAM

